Pope upholds reprimand for American nuns

Pope Francis has reaffirmed the reprimand of American nuns issued by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, and endorsed the plan to have three bishops supervise an overhaul of the nation's largest umbrella group of American nuns.

The announcement from the Vatican on Monday dashed the hopes of Catholic sisters and their supporters, who had hoped that the new pope might not want to meddle with women's religious communities because of his experience in the Jesuits, a men's religious order.

The news came after a meeting in the Vatican on Monday between the heads of the nuns' group, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the head of the Vatican's doctrinal office, which ordered the crackdown one year ago; and Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, of Seattle, who was appointed last year to oversee the five-year process.

Mueller, according to a statement released Monday by the Vatican, had "recently discussed" the situation with Francis, who was elected last month. Francis "reaffirmed" the critical doctrinal assessment the Vatican had made of the nuns' group last year, and endorsed the "program of reform," the statement said.

The Vatican last year said in its doctrinal assessment that the nuns' group was tinged with feminist influences, focused too much on ending social and economic injustice and not enough on stopping abortion, and permitted speakers at its meetings who questioned church doctrine.

The Leadership Conference responded in June that the accusations were "unsubstantiated" and the result of a "flawed process" that had caused pain and polarization in the church. The Leadership Conference represents about 80 percent of the approximately 57,000 sisters in the U.S. Last year, Catholics across the country held vigils and signed petitions to protest the Vatican's treatment of the sisters.

The nuns' group said in a statement Monday that its conversations at the Vatican were "open and frank" and added, "We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the church."